The United States has reached an agreement with the United Kingdom to end punitive tariffs on British steel and aluminum and British retaliation on American products, US Trade Secretary Gina Raimondo announced on Tuesday March 22. and Trade Ambassador Katherine Tai in a joint statement.
Saluting a “essential agreement”, Mme Raimondo and M.me Tai have explained that this one “will not only help ensure the long-term viability of our steel and aluminum industries, protect American jobs, but it will also lift retaliatory tariffs on more than $500 million of US exports to the UK, including spirits, various agricultural products and consumer goods,” in reference to the measures imposed in 2018 by former President Donald Trump and the retaliatory measures taken by the European Union, of which the United Kingdom was then still a member.
This announcement was made following a visit to the United States by British Minister for International Trade Anne-Marie Trevelyan. Earlier, M.me Trevelyan said he was optimistic about the possibility of an agreement on this dispute which polluted relations between the two countries.
“Historical volumes”
The two countries announced in January the launch of negotiations to put an end to this dispute inherited from the Trump era. The United Kingdom was among many countries that were imposed additional tariffs of 25% on steel and 10% on aluminum in June 2018, in the midst of a trade war. The Biden administration had already reached agreements with the European Union in October 2021, but these did not apply to the United Kingdom because of Brexit.
Concretely, this new agreement will make it possible to import “historic and sustainable volumes of British steel and aluminum products without the application of Section 232 tariffs”detailed the American officials.
What’s more, “this agreement requires any UK steel company owned by a Chinese entity to undertake an audit (…) to assess the influence of the government of the People’s Republic of China”. “The results of these audits must also be shared with the United States”also specified Mr.me Tai et Mme Raimondo.